Misunderstandings
by PV
Summary: Takes place immediately after Buon San Valentino...how do they feel about each other, anyway? Neither seems to know. Germany/Italy fluff.


Misunderstandings

**Author's Note: **Hello…this is my first serious or pairing fanfic (not my first time writing anything serious or between two men…just my first time in "public", haha). I'm just writing this to get it out of my system and to have fun with it. This takes place as a continuation of _Buon San Valentino_, if you haven't read it yet do so here:

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Axis Powers: Hetalia, or any of their characters, nor do I profit from this story.

"Wh-What's wrong? Say something, Doitsu! _Doitsu_!"

Inside the tall, German man's brain, a meltdown was occuring. What was he doing here? He had just…given Italy flowers…proposed to him…and grabbed him into an embrace…in front of a restaurant full of people…

And even then, Italy was not reacting as the book said he would. This was becoming apparent very quickly. Did he do something wrong? He thought he had accurately read all of Italy's actions toward him, and had certainly memorized everything the book had said…but, maybe…maybe it was just a culture difference after all…

"Doitsu…?" Italy repeated yet again. Germany blinked and came back to reality. He swallowed hard as his mouth was dry now, and glanced down at the smaller man. The room was getting hotter and smaller, Germany's cheeks flushed as red as they could be. So he did something completely unlike himself, and more like the Italian – he ran out the door. Italy watched after him, still wearing a look of surprise. Should he follow him? "…veee…what should I do…?" he muttered, looking down at the floor.

"What on earth is going on here?" It was their Swedish waiter, who had been watching the entire scene in utter horror.

"Nothing! Nothing! Please don't hurt me, I'll do anything!" Italy insisted, tears coming to his eyes as he shook his head frantically, afraid the waiter might hit him. The burly man backed off, looking frightened and wanting nothing more to do with the situation and its weirdness. With that, Italy was out the door as well, the brisk air hitting his face. He dried his eyes and started walking in the direction toward Germany's house. Perhaps, Italy thought, Germany had run home, and he could find him there, and maybe then he could figure out what it was Italy had done to make Germany act this way.

Flowers? And a ring? Italy had accidentally left the bouquet on the table, but it was just then that he noticed he was still clutching the ring box. Italy stopped for a moment to open the small, velvet box and look at the tomato ring inside. Now looking at it, he couldn't help but smiling widely. He cared about Germany a lot, a whole lot, but had honestly never thought of it going anything beyond friendship.

But surely…not Germany. There was some other reason for Germany's actions that day. Actually, now that Italy thought about it, Germany had been acting weird for the last few days as well. Maybe Germany was sick or stressed out. Italy was certain that Germany only tolerated him being around, and knew that he had to hate cleaning up after Italy's messes. Someone like Germany could never feel that way about someone like him. So there had to be some other reason for all of this…

"When I talk to him, I'll find out what it is, and I'll do what I can to make it better. I'll apologize if it was me, or I'll give him medicine if he's sick…I'll make Doitsu better, somehow." Italy closed the box with his hand and made a fist, pounding his fist into his opposite hand, an emphasis of his determination.

Home was not where Germany was. Germany had wandered to a park near his house. This park was where Germany would sometimes bring Japan and Italy for their training sessions, particularly on very nice days. Stopping by a bench, Germany stared at it, thinking he might sit down, but did not. He continued to walk instead, feeling that he would not be able to sit still. A little ways more up the path, he could see the little pond in the middle of park. Germany walked up to it and stood by it, closing his eyes, then letting out a deep sigh. The sun was almost set in the distance, leaving a line of orange at the bottom of the horizon.

"What am I doing?" he asked the pond aloud. Unsurprisingly, the pond did not answer him. After a bit of thought, Germany surmised that he must have been wrong the whole time about Italy. All of the hugs and kisses were just how he showed affection to Germany as his friend. That was the only explanation for how Italy had reacted to Germany's proposal. After all, he followed the book word for word. Somehow, this realization made Germany feel a bit sad. Germany gathered up his shame and started to head back to his house. Maybe a good night's sleep would clear some things up for him, and he could call Italy tomorrow to apologize for the whole mess.

Someone like Italy could not possibly feel that way about someone like him. Not someone who yelled at Italy all the time, not someone so stern like Germany…

The walk back to his house was quick, and Germany felt comfort in the thought that Austria would not be there for the night. He wanted to spend the rest of the evening alone. However, he would not get this wish, as he soon found when he reached his front door. At the foot of the door was Italy, curled up and fast asleep.

"Italia…" Germany muttered softly. He knelt down by Italy and watched him sleep for a moment. Somehow, his heart was fluttering, and he could feel his face reddening. Germany had seen Italy sleep a hundred times before that, sometimes even naked, and had never felt this nervous before. At first, he was going to awaken Italy and ask him why he had come, but now he did not have the heart to wake him. Germany unlocked the door and scooped up Italy as gently as he could, taking him inside. Germany tried hard not to wake him, but Italy was rubbing his eyes already as Germany was closing the front door. This would, of course, be the one time he would awaken easily, as any other time Germany could be throwing bombs at the bed and Italy would not even stir.

As Italy's eyes focused, he saw Germany's silhouette above him. The icy blue eyes stood out and told Italy who it was, and he felt his spirits lift to see Germany was carrying him in. Italy smiled as he always did. "Doitsu! You're home!" he reached up to hug Germany around the neck. All of the emotions Germany had been feeling before at the restaurant were rushing back like a tidal wave. He did not understand how Italy could be acting so normal.

"Ja…Italia, why did you come here? What if I had not come home?" Germany asked with only a hint of concern in his deep voice, the only thing concealing his rising nervousness and embarrassment. "You would have been stuck out all night."

Italy let go of the hug and simply continued to smile at him. "That's alright…I wanted to talk to Doitsu, and you had to come home eventually…"

Germany shook his head as he carried Italy to the living room and sat him on the couch. Italy looked amused at the treatment he was getting. Germany once again did not sit down. "That's not the point."

"But I just told you, I didn't want to miss you! I needed to talk to you, and-"

"Italia, I'm sorry." Germany blurted out before Italy could finish. Italy did not continue his sentence after this and only gave Germany a confused look.

"You don't have to…"

"Nein, I am. I acted out of place and…scared you…" Germany was reaching for what else he needed to say. His eyes averted Italy at all costs, his cheeks dusted with pink. "It was not appropriate, what I did."

"Why did Doitsu do this though?" Italy asked, causing Germany to bite his lip. "I wasn't scared, I was surprised…I just don't understand…"

"That's a good question…I'm not sure myself. It felt like the right thing to do…because of how you act around me."

"Ve? How I act?"

"With the hugs and kisses…sneaking into my bed…"

"Because I like Doitsu so much!" Italy told Germany as if this answered all of Germany's questions. Germany was starting to feel dizzy with emotion. "He protects me and stays with me, even though I screw up all the time…when I'm around him, I feel safe and happy…"

Germany finally sat down, about a foot away from Italy. He felt like slouching, but did not out of habit. "The book said nothing about this…any of these feelings, or about this outcome…"

"Ve?" Italy asked. "Book?"

If Germany could turn redder, he did. "No-nothing. Nevermind." Italy seemed to accept this. Germany looked to Italy as his heart pounded. He felt feverish almost. The words Italy had just said were playing in his head over and over. Was it normal to feel this way about someone? Germany had never felt this way about anyone he could remember…Germany realized he was looking over Italy and snapped his gaze away quickly, looking straight ahead.

"How does Doitsu feel about Italia?" Italy asked in a small voice. Germany twitched slightly.

"I don't know…" he answered quickly.

"Oh…" Italy was disappointed to hear that answer, and it was obvious in his voice. Germany suddenly felt terrible.

"Nein, I mean…I'm not good at…feelings…things like this…"

"Well, just think about it." Italy smiled sweetly at Germany. He felt he would accept whatever Germany's answer was, though he was finding it harder and harder to stay in his spot. Italy wanted to scoot closer to Germany, feel him beside him, or hug him tight again, or even…Italy brought his thoughts back to the matter at hand.

Germany closed his eyes and thought about it. At first, the man only annoyed him. He remembered this clearly. Somewhere along the line, however, things had changed. As he thought about the time he had spent with Italy recently, only one word came to mind.

"Happy."

The reaction was instant, Italy pouncing at Germany with a hug around his broad shoulders. "Do I really? Do I make you happy?" Germany hesitantly turned and hugged Italy back, softly, as if he squeezed too hard Italy's fragile form would break.

"You do." Germany admitted. "Your happiness is infectious sometimes, Italia…" He pulled back from the hug and gave Italy a soft smile that you could barely see. Germany was not even aware of that feeling himself until he had said it aloud.

"I'm happy if Doitsu is happy!" Italy cheered. Reaching up, he grabbed Germany's head from behind and pulled it down for a peck on the cheek. Much to Italy's surprise, when he started to pull back from the kiss, Germany grabbed his chin and held him in place. Germany leaned forward and kissed Italy on the lips. Italy's eyes opened wide with shock, something very uncharacteristic of him, but this did not last long. He relaxed into Germany's strong grip and kissed back. His tongue slipped out and licked Germany's lips, requesting entry, and Germany allowed it. After a minute or two of this deep kiss, the two pulled back, both looking equally flushed. Germany looked to Italy.

"Italia…what did I just…"

"Si, you kissed me." Italy answered as if this were perfectly normal, beaming at Germany. "I never thought this could happen…"

"So you were hoping for something like this?" Germany asked him, wanting to hide in his own shirt.

"Not…exactly…I did, but I didn't know I did." Italy nodded. "It seems Doitsu felt the same!"

"Ludwig."

Italy blinked. "Ve?"

"My real name is Ludwig. You can call me that from now on." Germany offered. Everything felt like it was falling into place so easily now. Italy smiled broadly and placed his hand on Germany's.

"M-mine is…Feliciano…"

"Feli?" Germany repeated, shortening the name. Italy started to look how Germany did earlier, nervously blushing.

"That was so cute, Doi-…Ludwig was cute!"

"I'm not supposed to be…cute…" Germany said the word with distaste.

"Ludwig is cute a lot more than he knows, I see it all the time." Italy grinned at Germany, then hopped up on his knees, kissing Germany deeply again before he could argue with him. Germany seemed to melt into the kiss. At the same time, he could not believe what he was doing, but could not stop either. He pulled Italy close with strong arms. Italy's nimble fingers slipped into Germany's slicked back hair as the kiss grew heated. But the kiss was interrupted. A loud rumble filled the room. Italy pulled out of the kiss, looking embarrassed.

"Veee…I'm sorry…but we never ate dinner…I'm so hungry…" Italy held his stomach, trying to tell it to be quiet. Germany only smiled and put a hand on Italy's head, messing up his hair, which made Italy pout. It was only when Italy had mentioned food did he realize how hungry he was as well.

"It's alright, It-…Feliciano…would you like to make us some pasta?"

"Of course! And I'll make wurst too!"

"That sounds good." Germany assured him. Italy jumped up and darted to the kitchen to make the two of them a delicious meal. It was then Germany noticed it, as Italy was going to stand. Though he was not sure when Italy had put it on, or if Italy had been wearing it whole time, but on his left hand, Italy had on the tomato ring he had given him. Germany watched him go, eyes lingering on Italy in a way they never had before. He felt like a weight had been lifted. Another smile crept up on him, and he stood to follow Italy to the kitchen.

Germany knew now that no book could ever contain what he was feeling right then.


End file.
